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Re: OT: Matt Ryan Gatorade Commercial

This - honestly, what would you want him to do? Not talk about it, let the fear consume him, and deny it ever happened?

He's owning it, and hopefully is using the pain of losing to fuel up as much as Gatorade...

Exactly. This is much ado about nothing. I don't see anything odd, humorous, or even embarrassing about Ryan being in that commercial. His appearance merely caps off the point the marketing dept is trying to make. And I assume Ryan truly believes that such a big loss is indeed motivating. Good for him.

Re: OT: Matt Ryan Gatorade Commercial

It will be interesting to see how both Matt Ryan and the entire Offense adjust to switching OCs and schemes. Especially since they look to be switching from a zone blocking scheme to a power man scheme. Who even knows how well Sarkisian can even call a game.

Re: OT: Matt Ryan Gatorade Commercial

I always laugh when people a say Matt Ryan chokes but then blame whoever Joes OC is when Joe chokes.

Matt Ryan didn't choke in the SB. His defense did.

Ryan has played in 8 playoff games.

1st half scoring: 123 points in 16 quarters.

15.4pts avg for the first half.

2nd half scoring: 68 points in 16 quarters.

8.5pts avg for the second half.

That is about a 50% drop in scoring from the first half to the second half.

The Falcons are front runners, but struggle to deal with adversity in the second half of playoff games. They run stagnant and/or make errors in the second half.

Of the 16 second half quarters, they've went scoreless in 7. That's almost 50%.

The only time Ryan has successfully dealt with second half adversity was against SEA in Wilson's rookie year. Clutch FG from bryant.

Yet more often than not we've seen huge collapses like the SF game where they scored 0 second half points, and the epic 28-3 collapse when they only scored 7 second half points. In each game Ryan had a huge fumble.

In 8 playoff games, Ryan's offense has never scored more second half points than first half points. They get out to a hot start and then run cold.

In view of the above, one could make a strong case for a pattern of choking in the second half of playoff games.

Why does their offense fall apart in the second half of playoff games?

Re: OT: Matt Ryan Gatorade Commercial

I always laugh when people a say Matt Ryan chokes but then blame whoever Joes OC is when Joe chokes.

Matt Ryan didn't choke in the SB. His defense did.

They are not mutually exclusive. The Falcons defense choked in the Super Bowl. Matt Ryan choked also.

From the point they took the 28-3 lead, he unraveled. Shanahan may have been an idiot for abandoning the running game at that point, but he basically put it in Matt Ryan's hands to seal the victory, and Ryan was horrible. He made a critical fumble. He took a sack in a situation where basically anything BUT a sack and they win the game.

Then with :52 left and needing only a field goal, he throws a ridiculous 4-yard dumpoff and THEN spikes the ball.

Take everything else away and just look at that last drive. You've got the best QB and the best passing offense in the league. You get the ball back with a minute left and you only need a FG, and you get 15 yards and punt. That by itself was a huge choke job. What are the chances Brady throws a 4-yard dumpoff in that situation? Zero. Because Brady's not a choker. Ryan is.

Re: OT: Matt Ryan Gatorade Commercial

Originally Posted by HotInHere

They are not mutually exclusive. The Falcons defense choked in the Super Bowl. Matt Ryan choked also.

From the point they took the 28-3 lead, he unraveled. Shanahan may have been an idiot for abandoning the running game at that point, but he basically put it in Matt Ryan's hands to seal the victory, and Ryan was horrible. He made a critical fumble. He took a sack in a situation where basically anything BUT a sack and they win the game.

Then with :52 left and needing only a field goal, he throws a ridiculous 4-yard dumpoff and THEN spikes the ball.

Take everything else away and just look at that last drive. You've got the best QB and the best passing offense in the league. You get the ball back with a minute left and you only need a FG, and you get 15 yards and punt. That by itself was a huge choke job. What are the chances Brady throws a 4-yard dumpoff in that situation? Zero. Because Brady's not a choker. Ryan is.

As I've shown above, the SB wasn't the first time Ryan's offense has fallen asleep in the second half.

They are frontrunners that put up points in the beginning.

But if the fortune starts to turn, they've shown an inability to stave off a second half swoon.

I mean, to me choking is crumbling under pressure. In that something that you can normally execute well suddenly screws up.

They run up and down the field in the first half, then do nothing but go 3 and out or turn the ball over in the second half.

Ryans Falcons are a poster child for having a smooth running offense in the first half of playoff games and then getting shut out or having much lower scoring in the second half.

If you can't take the heat in the second half of a playoff game...that's pretty much the definition of choking.